THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES TUESDAY, DECEMBER 28, 1915. A DIFFICULT PROBLEM.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 16577, 28 December 1915, Page 4

THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES TUESDAY, DECEMBER 28, 1915. A DIFFICULT PROBLEM.

A few weeks ago we published a cable message of more than passing interest relative to the action of a Chicago doctor in refusing to operate to save the life of a hopelessly defective infant. From the columns of the New York Times we see that the case excited a great deal of attention in the United States, where very diverse opinions were expressed concerning the doctor's decision. Probably nowhere but in the United States would such extremes of reasoning, in persons qualified to express an opinion or at least entitled to do so, be discoverable. The child in question was five days old when it died. Dr Haiselden, the attending physician, said its life might have been saved by an operation, but this he did not feel justified in performing, as the infant was afflicted • with partial paralysis and malformations. "I rest with my conscience," Dr Haiselden said. '' There was no chance . that life would bring this child anything better than an animal existence and imbecility. I had no right to condemn it to that. I believe I have done the child, its parents who agree with me, and the face a favour in taking the course I did." It would seem that Dr Haiselden had need of all his resolution to carry out a decision which was made public before the child died. According to the New York Times "a guard stood, at the baby's side at the end, for the steady jangle of the telephone bell had brought threats as well as appeals to the surgeon. It was feared an attempt would bo made to kidnap the child. Many persons had asked permission to take the baby to their homes and have it cared for by other surgeons. Women pleaded, and at least one vented ' her wrath in epithets of<the bitterest nature. One woman adviser bade Dr Haiselden' to stand firm." There is the inevitable American touch of sensationalism about all this. Apparently some effort was made to give the case, which was in a public hospital, something of the prominence of a test case. The State Attorney seems to have, declared before the infant's death occurred that the police should take action and that a plain case of manslaughter was about to be committed, but there is no indication that the police have interfered. Those who desire guidance as to whether the doctor did right or wrong will find opinions enough to choose from. Miss Jane Addams, "the Aunt Jane" who is included in the party on Mr Ford's peace mission which, its promoter now seems to have realised, was engaged on a fool's errand, laid down a law that leaves no loophole for Dr Haiselden. Bishop Samuel Fallows cited the fact that defectives have sometimes reached great heights, instancing the famous case of Helen Keller, A pronouncement of some significance came from Mr Augustine Bowe, professor of criminal law, who said: " While human laws and religion urge the baby's preservation, the legal question involved is whether a physician who believes a patient should not be operated on is to be held responsible if he permits the patient to die in furtherance of his judgment. I doubt if a conviction of any crime could be had on those circumstances. It is done every day all over the world where doctors decide the fate of patients!" A well-known biologist, Dr Moyer, urged that the case is not an exception, but like countless others decided by doctors every day. It does not appear, however, that the consensus of opinion among members of the medical profession was on the side of Dr Haiselden. The general view of the New York doctors seems to have been that, whatever the ethics involved, no one physician should have been permitted to decide on his own responsibility either as to the fate of the child or as to the correctness of the diagnosis. One of the doctors interviewed by the New York Times said it was a well-known fact that children who appear to be doomed to a life of idiocy from their birth may be saved from that condition by brain operations. Dr Quackenbos, who, despite his name, is described as an authority on mental conditions and heredity, is quoted as having said : "It is the great function of the physician to save life, and, whatever views might be entertained as to the propriety of ending a life not well begun, the physician has no right to take the law into his own hands." The sociologists of Columbia University in their turn took an entirely different view of the matter. From Professor Franklin 11. Giddingscamo the outspoken verdict: "If the facts are as reported the child should be permitted to die. If more such children had been permitted to die there would be fewer molassesminded men and women in the community who object to letting such children die." Dr Haiselden must have found comfort, moreover, in the knowledge that the MedicoLegal Society of America passed resolutions commending him for " his humane act in refusing to perform an operation to prolong the life of an imbecile child." On the oilier

hand be has it, apparently, on the word of a Judge of the Juvenile Court of Philadelphia, that he has committed murder, and that it is very fortunate for him that he does not reside in Pennsylvania. It is impossible not to observe that the conflict of opinion on this important question arises partly from the lack of a common point of observation, as well as partly from a lack of precis© knowledge as to the details of the case. Independent of that.' there will be a cleavage of judgment which nothing will eradicate. The weak point of the position of the Chicago doctor would appear to be that lie acted on his own responsibility, a point emphasised by those who suggest that such a decision as the one in this case ought not to rest with one practitioner only.

Statements from German sources sometimes suggest that things are going on quite nicely in Belgium, and that that country is learning almost to appreciate the beneficence of the German yoke. What we read as to the reality of the situation after more than a year of German occupation conveys a somewhat different impression. A_ correspondent, Mr Leonard Spray, writing to a London paper a few weeks ago, states : " Not since the days when their capital passed into the hands of the invader have the unhappy Belgian people been subjected to such persecution and oppression as in the last month. Heavier and heavier weighs the yoke around their necks; tighter and harder is the grip of the mailed fist. They are enduring at the present moment nothing less than a rein of terror. This era- of super-frightfulness set in immediately after the victories, of the Allies in France and Belgium. It is as if their temporary Tillers, feeling that their hold on the conquered territory was being loosened, determined to vent their rag'' and chagrin, not upon the armed forces of their enemy, but upon the helpless innocent civilian victims -within their power." The first excuse of the Germans for this oppression was sought in the necessity of protecting, as Baron von Bissing put it, the backs of their armies, threatened, as they professed to imagine, by civilian treachery. They saw spies everywhere, ordered wholesale arrests, set up court-martials all over the country, tried men and women in secret, and executed them in fearful haste. The case of Nurse Cavell has stood alone merely in the attention it has excited. Another feature of the new regime of terror in Belgium has been the application nf forced labour. A proclamation threatens with imprisonment or deportation to Germany " all those who without ground refuse to undertake or carrv out work which is according to their calling, commanded thereto by, one of the German military commanders." This means that a man who is a mason or a carpenter must do as the German military commander orders, although he knows that, contrary to all international law, his skill is to be used against his own country in the construction of barracks behind the lines or other works calculated to serve the military purpose of his country's enemies. In Brussels -we read of the Germans hunting out —a step following on the case of Miss Cavell —all men -who have served at any time since the war began in one or other of the Allies' armies, all those discovered being immediately sent off to Germany as prisoners. "At this moment," writes Mr Spray, "there is evidence that wholesale deportations to Germany are in view. This 'measure follows the order that all Belgians of military age must report themselves at headquarters within fortyeight hours on pain of being shot. So far there'is only news from one place as to the sequel, but it is of a terribly ominous character. Fifteen hundred men obeyed the command. And those fifteen hundred have disappeared absolutely."

A few weeks ago the Catholic Herald published what* it described as "the fullest evidence yet available of the German plot to enrol Irish prisoners of war in a German-Irish brigade." The story is still somewhat meagre. A corporal of the Royal Irish Regiment has, however, described visits paid to the camp at Limburg by Sir Roger Casement, the notorious pro-German Englishman, and by an American priest in frrder to induce the Irish prisoners of waT there to join the 'proposed brigade. The rules for this brigade were that it was to be formed " solely for the purpose of fighting for Ireland and securing for her national independence." It was to be paid by the German Government, to wear a special distinctive Irish uniform, and to have none but Irish officers. "In the event of Germany gaining a big naval victory " the brigade was to be sent to Ireland, and. if fortune decreed otherwise, it was to be sent to help to free Egypt from the British yoke. W 7 hen the war ended any membpr of the brigade who so desired could be sent to America.

With the reflection that truth is stranger than fiction the probabilities of the correctness of even such a story as that of this scheme on the part of the enemy to tempt Irish soldiers to become traitors may be quite seriously considered. But German miscalculations concerning loyalty within the British Empire have been ludicrous. It is interesting to know how the German proposal to Irish prisoners of war was answered. The precise form which the reply took, we are told, was a letter, drafted and signed by the senior noncommissioned officers of different Irish battalions, and sent to the German Emperor. It said: "We fully appreciate the kindness extended in grouping us together under one roof; assuring us of better food; decreasing the amount of fatigue work to bo done. But we must beseech his Imperial Majesty to withdraw these concessions unless they are shared by the remainder of the prisoners, as, in addition to being Irish Catholics, we have the honour to be British soldiers." The German proposals seem to have been uncommonly crude and foolish. Commenting upon them the Manchester Guardian aptlv observed that the Kaiser had not read Kipling's "Mutiny of the Mavericks," or he might have scented a snub and held his hand.

In New Zealand the effect of the war upon the life of the community is scarcely discernible otherwise than in relation to recruiting. We would expect to hear, however, that in the Old Country, the results have been somewhat complex. Yet some of these results would seem rather astonishing, if- we are to believe all we are told. In a series of articles in which he has been contributing to the British press impressions of London after a year of war Mr Harold Begbie does not hesitate to say that something so remarkable is happening in English life that all people who take an intelligent interest in social affairs, and all people who without knowledge or experience lay down the law about sccial affair's should make themselves acquainted with it. The visitor to the Church Army workshop at Westminster any evening would iind, we are told, perhaps five, perhaps six. miserable, homeless, and rather decrepit old men earning board ar.d lodging by charitable work. But before the war he might have found at .this same place four or five hundred men whom it might have been his custom to dub parasites of society, " work-shys," shirkers, and so forth. It. astonished at the contrast, he should reck to ascertain whether the shirkers and "work-shys" are all safely locked up in prison, he will probably be told that, on

fclie contrary, the prisons of England "are beginning to shut tlieir doors, or are being handed over, at anyrate, to the military authoi'ities for use as barracks. The total prison population of England and Wales has dropped, it is stated, one-third cince war was declared.

The question as to what has become of the criminals and "work-shys" for whom the hospitality of the workshop is no longer required is answered by Mr Begbie thus: "Will you believe itj they are earning their bread by honest work? Yes! That is the wonderful truth. And think what it means. It means that, war or no war, we should have emptier prisons and emptier workhouses if only there was work for all. . . . War has come to

us, shaking down a vast number of old ideas, and among these ideas is the widespread prejudice concerning the tramp and criminal. Give them a chance of work, decent work at a living wage, and they prove themselves as honest as the rest of us, and more thrifty, many of them, than most of us. Only work is required. Provide work and you sweep away crime and waste —not all crime and all waste—ljpt an immense amount of crime and a considerable amount of waste. It is worth thinking about." While the philosophy—there'd always be a few crooked v people"—of a member of the class for whom Mr Begbie speaks up co strongly, must ever remain sound, to many elderly men among otheTs in the Old Country the war seems to have brought opportunities for employment that have been gratefully seized.

Tho Hon. James Allen (Minister of Defence) will return to Wellington this morning by the second express. Yesterday afternoon he motored out to Milton. Mr Allen, in answer to a question whether ho had any information that tho Eighth Reinforcements had been in action, said he did not think they had, at anyrate he had absolutely no information on the point. He further stated that Colonel V. S. Smyth, who had command of tho Otago and then the Canterbury military district, will be in chargo of the 3rd and 4th Battalions of the New Zealand Rifle Brigade, which will leave New Zealand next month. Mr Allen said that the hospital ship Maheno was due at Auckland on January 1, and that she should make Dunedin on or about January 5. She would refit at Port Chalmers, but no very material alterations to her were anticipated. The rumour that tho cot accommodation was to be increased from 400 to 1000 was quite incorrect.

The railway traffic returns for December 24 and 25 show that 7122 passengers were booked at tho Dunedin Station, as compared with 7174 last year. The figures for the last threo years show that tho number of passengers travelling has been well maintained this year in spite of the war, tho respective totals being as follow: — 1913, 7103; 1914, 7174; 1915, 7122. , The following are the principal bookings from Dunedin for December 24 and 25, the figures for last year being given in parentheses: —Christchurch 284 (437), Oamaru 193 (237), Warrington 72 (160), Puketeraki 14-5 (200), Waitati 372 (272), Purakanui 298 (175), Taieri Mouth 97 (120), Gore 106 (142), Invercargill 434 (220), Queenstown 170 (130). Yesterday (Boxing Day) th„e bookings totalled 7037, including 3827 passengers to tho races at Wingafcui—an increase of 200 over last year's figures. Owing to the fact that the annual regatta -was not held at Port Chalmers, a loss of about 1000 passengers was recorded on this line.

Tho police report that so far they have not secured any trace of the whereabouts of Mrs Bringans, of Lawrence, "whose mysterious disappearance on or about December 17, while she was paying a visit to Dunedin with hflt husband, was mentioned in our columns yesterday morning.

The postage stamps sold at the Chief Post Office during tho four days preceding Christmas totalled £2545," being an increase over tho business of last year. The number of mail bags and parcel hampers despatched and received during the same period was 4626, indicating an increase, especially in parcel-post business.

The Ladies' Hospital Choir, conducted by Mies Dunlop, gave the Hospital patients a treat on Sunday evening, when a splendid programme of hymns and Christmas carols was rendered in ia most effective manner. To those outside the precincts of the Hospital walls the good work done by this choir is very little known. It is a pleasure for an outsider to accompany this choir in its rounds from one ward to another and listen to such sweet music, and what must it be to the patients! For two- and- a-half hours these ladies, on Sunda,y evening, sang in every ward. While the choir was singing such hymns as "O God of Bethel," and " Lead, Kindly Light," several of the patients could not refrain from talcing part. At the conclusion of the service Dr Falconer expressed his gratitude to the choir for its visit on Sunday evening, and also for similar services rendered fortnightly throughout the past year. He assured Miss Dunlop and her choir (illat their singing wa6 very much appreciated, both by the patients and by the Hospital staff. The chaplain (Mr Cumming) also expressed his indebtedness to the choir for the> kindness and self-denial they had Fhown towards the inmates of the Hospital during the past year, and said he hoped that the choir would be ready to continue its good work at the beginning of the now year.

The motor launch Rapier, said to be the fastest motor launch in Wellington, was towing a waterplane in the harbour yesterday (says a Press Association telegram) when the engine backfired, with the result that the tank, holding about a tin of petrol, became ablaze. Efforts were made to smother the flames, but without success. The occupants l:ad an exciting experience, being driven by the heat over the side of tho craft into the water. They were rescued by a cutter from the Monowai. The hull was practically destroyed. The damage is estimated at £100.

Mr J. 11. Bartholomew, S.M., presided over a sitting of tho City Police Court yesterday, whcn t a first offender, who did not appear, was fined IQj, in default 48 hours' imprisonment, for drunkenness. Robert Jackson was charged with being in a state of helpless drunkenness in Princes street on December 26. Senior Sergeant Dart stated that the accused was very ill when arrested, ans had to be sent to the Hospital. Ho asked for a remand for a week, which was granted. Mr N. JDodds, J.P., conducted a short Bitting of the Police Court at Port Chalmers yesterday morning, when two first offenders were each fined ss, with the usual alternative. , Previous to tho departure of the steamer Odland from Dargaville on Saturday week for Sydney the polico searched tho vessel and discovered .a stowaway, a labourer, 30 years of age. secreted in tho chain-locker. Ho had previously applied for a permit under the war regulations to leave New Zealand, but was refused, and adopted the course of departure stated. He was charged at tho Police Court on Saturday with the offence, and was convicted and allowed tho opportunity of enlisting. In consequence -he passed the medical officers, and will form one of the next contingent leaving there for Trenthnm. Satisfactory results attended tho trial on Wednesday of an installation for illuminating the Parnell railway tunnel by electricity (says the New Zealand Herald). Lamps have been placed along both walls of the tunnel, and they are of sufficient power to enable passengers to see each other as trains pass through tho tunnc-l. So succcssful was the trial that a,ftor now the tunnel will be illuminated whenever a train passes through. This will obviate tho necessity for having the carriage lamps specially lit. Tho switches will be worked from tho sig-nal-boxes, but later an automatic system of switches will be installed.

William Louis Ory, a member of the Expeditionary .Force on leave from Trentham, who was arrested on Sunday at Caversham, was charged, before Mr J. R. Bartholomew, S.M., at the City Police Court yesterday, that on or about October 20, at Christchurch, he obtained from Henry James Ranger the sum of £1 by falsely representing that ho was in the employ of tho Colonial Motor Company at Wellington. Detective Sergeant Kemp said he understood that the accused would plead guilty, and he desired to be dealt with here. Ho applied for a remand until Wednesday, in order that the Christchuroh police might be communicated with. The accused bad paid to tho police £7. The remand was granted, and bail was fixed, accused' in his own recognisaneo of £50, and one surety of £50, or two of £25 each.

In the opinion of tho Government Biologist (Mr A. H. Cockayne) chicory should be classed as a T.'eed in pastures (says the Wellington Post). Originally tho addition of chicory to coffee was largely for adulteration purposes, but the flavour that it imparts to this beverage is much appreciated by many people, and eoffeo is now rarely sold pure. Chicory has been grown for this purposo in certain parts of New Zealand, notably in the vicinity of Christchurch and Dunedin. During the past few years the imported article could be procured cheaper than. the locally grown, but the groat war has changed the position, and this season tho cultivation of chicory has again been undertaken in the dominion.

A note of alarm is struck by Mr D. Cuddie, Dairy Commissioner, at a possible shortage of rcnncfr (says the Wellington Post). This essential article in cheesemaking is obtained mainly from Sweden, Denmark, and Holland, and the raw material com'.-s from all over tho Continent. Last year there appeared to be ample in stock for present-day requirements in New Zealand, but now a shortage is feared, and if it shotild materialise New Zealand cheesemakers will be in a very awkward predicament. Mr Cuddie, in an article contributed to tho Journal of Agriculture, shows how the difficulty may possibly be overcome, and rennet manufacture established in New Zealand. " The question is of sufficient importance," (ho writes) "to warrant every dairy company in the dominion carefully considering tho subject, with a view to organising the collection of the raw material throughout the various dairying districts, say, from the beginning of next season. As upwards of 30,000 gallons of rennet is required for tho present output of cheese, the order will be a large one; but unless something is done to provide against disappointment and accompanying heavy loss, those. concei-ned will only have themselves to blame should an actual deficiency occur."

As a result of inquiries in the various States the Federal Minister of Customs has ascertained that the butter production in South Australia will only meet requirements for January; that the production in Queensland is only equal to two-thirds of the present requirements; that Western Australia will want its usual supplies from the eastern States; and that Tasmania can hold its own. New South Wales, which is a large consumer, has not yet definitely made known its requirements, but heavy rains have recently fallen in that State. Mr Tudor stated that until he had further official information ho was disinclined to allow any export of butter from Australia. His desire was to ensure an adequate supply for the people of the Commonwealth at reasonable rates.

While the Minister of Defence was in Auckland last week, Mr A. E. Glover, M.P., brought forward the question of a badge for returned soldiers. The Minister suggested that there would be a risk of people masquerading under such badges. Mr Glover replied that men entitled to wear them could be depended upon to see that very little in the nature of fraud was practised. The Australians, he pointed out, were provided with a distinguishing badge. Tho' member for Aucklapd Central also urged "that badges should -be provided for those rejected as medically unfit, and further suggested that returned soldiers should bo provided with a mesa allowance of two shillings per day. The Minister promised to draw the attention of the Cabinet to the points raised. '

Writing to his parents in Christchurch Mr C. L. Nelson, who haj. been seven years on the engineering staff of the Canadian Pacific Railway, states that he will bo back next month to enlist in the Now Zealand forces for the front. He is a crack shot, and his experiences in Manitoba have made him an admirable pioneer. Ho studied for a commission at his headquarters, Brandon, Manitoba, and would have received a lieutenancy had he remained and enlisted in the fine Canadian forces, but he wanted to see his people 'before going to the front, and was fired by the accounts of the Anzae to be with his old schoolfellows and fel-low-countrymen.

Mr W. H. Field, M.P., has been interesting himself ,in the leakage of gold coins from the country (says the Wellington Post). It a letter received from a well known business man; Mr Field is j informed that the Chinese do not get the money from the banks. They purehaso. it from outsiders, paying a premium of Is to Is 6d in the pound. " I venture to say (writes Mr Field's, informant) that every Chinaman who leaves thi3 dominion to return to China, takes from 100 to 200 sovereigns with hihi, and I maintain that this gold goes into the hands of the enemies of the British Empire. If these facts were brought before the present Minister of Finance, and were by him brought under the notice of the Secretary of ' State for tho Colonies, action would bo taken to stop' this traffio by Chinamen in British gold." Mr Field brought the matter under the notice of the Minister of Finance, and has been asked by him to obtain particulars of any cases where it is suspected that Chinese have been accumulating and exporting sovereigns. The Government has already taken measures to prevent export of gold coins by Chinese, and if thei-3 are .still cases where it is suspected that tho law is being evaded, the proper preventive steps will be taken.

Mr Wm. Fras.T, the well-known ex-Wai-kiwi and Southland representative footballer, who is now working manager afc one of the branches of the biggest meat exporting companies in Victoria, is at present paying a visit to Southland. In conversation with a Southland Times representative Mr Fraser said that the present year in Victoria had been a great one. There had been an abundant rainfall, and the crops and pastures were of the most luxuriant description, there being insufficient stock to cope with the latter. He anticipated that there would be a largo quantity of grain available for export from the commonwealth next year notwithstanding the continued drought in Queensland, which was suffering very severely. Owihg to the drought that has previously prevailed in the southern States, the export of meat during the present year had fallen away to almost nothing. He mentioned that his firm had in 1914 exported over 800,000 carcases of lamb and mutton; in 1913 considerably over a million carcases, and this year only 10,000 carcases had been exported. It would take the commonwealth somo years to recover in the matter of sheep, no matter how favourable the seasons might be, and in regard to cattle the position was much worse. In some parts of the States the country had been completely depicted of stock. At present farmers were holding their stock as much as possible in order to cope as well as they possibly could with the extraordinary growth of grass. If a spell of hot weather took place the grass would shrivel up quickly, and then there would be continuous danger of devastating fires, so that farmers were not happily placed in the circumstances. There was, however, a spirit of hopefulness everywhere, and signs of despondency were nowhero in evidence*.

That the dairying industry is becoming a potential factor in the progress of tho West Coast no on© will now dispute (saya tho Greymouth Star). .During the recent visit of the Minister of Agriculture this side of our industrial life was brought his notice. The factory he inspected aff> Westport, 'which has lately been erected, ha considered one of the best equipped in , New Zealand. The high prices prevailing are giving- suppliers handsome cheques, and already there are numerous monthly cheque* of over £100. The Department of Agriculture is becoming more and more thetic with the aspirations of the West Coast former, and there is no reason to doubt that the district may assume Taranaki proportions as far as the dairying , industry is concerned. Farmers all over New Zealand are gradually working towards general co-operation, and this is instanced in the formation of the New Zealand Farmers' Fertiliser Company. This company will produce manures at a low prico,. and when these are available -a big stride towards greater production will "be made..

Are you interested in the silent v grey fellow? The Harley-Davidson motor cycle, has reached the climax of ingenuity and efficiency.—Wilson, Bond street. —Advt. Cr Kilpatrick cheerfully accepts Stuart Wilson and Co.'s invitation to work at the next O.M.C. working bee.. Conditions: Free transport for self, shovel, and light refreshments. An easy £1 for wounded soldiere.—■" Advt. „: | . ' Remember, "it's what they say it is" at , Williamson's, the quality jewellers, _31 Princes street. You get a choice selection. —Advt. To tTtoso about to pef married. This New • Year time without aouot F. and F._ Mar- . tins' furniture emporium and factory, in the •' Octagon, is the first plaoe to visit. Get.' . their estimate and catalogue. Save money, . / 'by dealing direct with the manufacturers.'-— Advt. .. . ' _ -'V-j See the wonderful line of ladies' kid handbags, newest shapes, in dark colours,"at 3s 6d—worth 7s 6d.—At Mollisons Ltd. —Advt. When travelling, take a -'flask of Watson's No'. 10 whisky with you. Splendid strawlant. —Advt. ' 9d A. E. J. Blakeley, dentist. Bank of Australasia, corner of Bond and Rattray street! v ' (next Telegraph Office). Telephone 1859.—. ~ Advt. Who is Peter Dick? —The most reliable , Watchmaker, Jeweller, and Certificated Consulting Optician, 490 Moray place (off Princea street), Dunedin. Charges moderate.—Advt